Atlas 5 launches Space Force satellite to test early warning technology
After waiting out cloudy weather, the U.S. Space Force launched two satellites atop an Atlas 5 rocket Friday to test ballistic and hypersonic missile early warning and tracking technology and to deploy a maneuverable spacecraft carrying an unknown number of classified payloads.Already running a day late because of stormy weather, the $1.1 billion USSF-12 mission got off to a ground-shaking start at 7:15 p.m. EDT when its United Launch Alliance rocket thundered to life with 2.3 million pounds of thrust from its first stage engine and four strap-on boosters.Trailing a spectacular jet of flaming exhaust, the 196-foot-tall rocket rapidly climbed from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, knifing through low clouds and quickly disappearing from view as it streaked away to th...